Hungary should have vaccinated children 12 to 15 before summer

Experts have realised that even though children are less prone to infection, the coronavirus spreads easiest in communities. This is why most countries began serious virus defence measures by closing schools and kindergartens to curb the spread of the virus. Sooner or later, everyone realised that unless we can remove children from virus transmission, we will never get to the end of the pandemic.

It is very important to prevent the spread of the virus, because if it is allowed to spread freely, it will find masses of people vulnerable to it.

As it turned out during the third wave, the UK and Indian variants are increasingly infecting children as well, and can lead to serious symptoms and even hospitalisation.

As paediatricians, we see that regardless of the severity of the COVID infection and the course of the disease, the number of post-COVID syndrome cases has increased hugely,

Póta said.

There have been several such cases in Póta’s own practice with headaches, and weakness lasting several weeks, and children had to give up sports as they were not fit enough. None of these children required hospital treatment, and the disease ran its course relatively quickly within a week. Nevertheless, children should be vaccinated without question, Póta said.

At present, only the Pfizer vaccine has been approved for children under 12 in the EU. Accordingly, Hungary has started vaccinating children, both under and over 12, with the Pfizer vaccine.

According to Póta, it would have been better to vaccinate children between 12 and 16 in a campaign before the summer break began and the children dispersed. They should have been vaccinated either sooner or in a more organised manner, he added. Póta fears Hungary will reach sufficient vaccination coverage in this age group slower, even though it would help the pandemic effort immensely. Vaccinating children sporadically will only bring results later, he added.

It would be important to vaccinate as many of the school-age population as possible by late August or early September so that the new school year does not bring about the next wave of the pandemic. As seen last year, the number of new cases skyrocketed nationwide just 10 days after school began. Fortunately, that wave was relatively mild, but we now have the Indian (Delta) variant, which affects children more aggressively, Póta said.

If children return to communities, it will take just 10 days and there will be lots and lots of new cases again,

Póta said.